Thread: Some friendly advice needed for restoring beautiful old Victorian door

I have worked on a few doors like this. If this one was mine I would knock it down, repair all the pieces individually and then rebuild. And then probably paint it to hide all the repairs.

Done something similar but not as thorough and dramatic. The only thing I can add is the use of clamps in "push" or cramp mode to gently dissasmble after you have the panels out. And remember to label which panel is where. You could spend a while trying to figure that out...

Not sure if this helps

http://hackneytools.com/2015/11/glaz...n-door-part-2/

Thanks for the replies peoples.

Have done some more searching on tenons, wedges, plugs and restoration stuff and forth. Looks like I can carefully remove the wedges and as you say cramp the frame open. That will allow me to work on each piece and re-assemble for a tight long lasting fitment. Oh yes, have been numbering each panel I've pulled

Any ideas on how to remove the 'bow' from the flat panel? Its 260mm wide and I reckon I will have trouble sourcing a replacement. I was thinking soaking the item in water overnight then clamp it flat with battens and wait for it to dry out?

Originally Posted by Pac man

Not sure if this helps

http://hackneytools.com/2015/11/glaz...n-door-part-2/

Thanks. I also learnt a new word - Bolection...!

Any ideas on how to remove the 'bow' from the flat panel? Its 260mm wide and I reckon I will have trouble sourcing a replacement. I was thinking soaking the item in water overnight then clamp it flat with battens and wait for it to dry out?

You may need to do that, but first, try spraying water on the concave side of the panel, then clamping it flat between 3 or 4 sheets of newspaper each side. Leave for a day or two. Once it's OK, never leave it flat on the bench, always lay it on stickers so there is air either side.

Originally Posted by AlexS

You may need to do that, but first, try spraying water on the concave side of the panel, then clamping it flat between 3 or 4 sheets of newspaper each side. Leave for a day or two. Once it's OK, never leave it flat on the bench, always lay it on stickers so there is air either side.

Thanks Alex. Will give that a crack. Spent 6 hours taking off all the top half mouldings front & back and bats. Damn big nails they used back in the day when the wood was green

Anyhow, found something that is making this project all the worthwhile, back of one of the bats has scribbles and is dated 5th October 1883 - i thought the door was old, but wow.....Seems the writing is greek or olde English?

looks like that deck could do with a bit of attention too....

Originally Posted by burraboy

looks like that deck could do with a bit of attention too....

Nah decks going to the tip in a year or two


Can anyone confirm for me that the wood is baltic pine....?

Originally Posted by mookschank

...Anyhow, found something that is making this project all the worthwhile, back of one of the bats has scribbles and is dated 5th October 1883 - i thought the door was old, but wow.....Seems the writing is greek or olde English?

Well, I couldn't let the puzzle go by.
Definitely greek letters (except maybe the first 2).

IO Ις ογ Τηε σπρεε Τηε λασΤ ψι?ε δαις

Θομας
Πεαρκε

Got the letters off Wiki and tried the sentence in google translate but it didn't make sense. Then I wondered if the writer was using the letters as a simple substitution code. And they were, but even simpler than I thought. They have simply used the greek letters closest to english sounds:
(greek upper case/greek lower case/greek name/closest english letter)
Α α alpha a
Β β beta b
Γ γ gamma g
Δ δ delta d
Ε ε epsilon e
Ζ ζ zêta z
Η η êta ê
Θ θ thêta th
Ι ι iota i
Κ κ kappa k
Λ λ lambda l
Μ μ mu m
Ν ν nu n
Ξ ξ xi ks
Ο ο omikron o
Π π pi p
Ρ ρ rho r
Σ σ, ς sigma s
Τ τ tau t
Υ υ upsilon u
Φ φ phi f
Χ χ chi ch
Ψ ψ psi ps
Ω ω omega ô

Note there is no greek for "c", "v" or "y". The writer chose "i" to replace "y"

So the message reads...

IO "Ις ογ Τηε σπρεε Τηε λασΤ ψι?ε δαις"
IO* "is on the spree the last five days"

(*whoever IO was, maybe the boss? or it could be the number 10 or some other reference. But it would have to be a person for sure.)

And the writer signed themselves as "Thomas Pearce" (replacing "c" with "k" I assume, as per "Oct 1883" otherwise Thomas Pearke)

Not ancient words of wisdom, but mildly amusing anyway. At least that's what I think.

Regards
SWK

Originally Posted by mookschank

Can anyone confirm for me that the wood is baltic pine....?

It certainly has the appearance of Baltic.

A worthy challenge in more ways than one!!!

You are doing a fine job on the resto. I agree that the timber looks like Baltic Pine.

Cricket bat door. Never heard of them referred to like that before but it is an apt description.

Not sure what they are referred to in other cultures but in Rio de Janeiro there is a very old church
known as the Church of St. Bento. It was originally all timber but in order to preserve the entire
building a stone building was built all around it sometime in the 1800s. The original doors are
"cricket bat" and are enormous - probably 15 feet tall.

Keep it coming!!

Iam going against the grain but why strip it down? In your first comment...."I like the dings etc" so why not leave it in situ, sand it down so a good varish/sealer can be applied and leave the dings etc. Sorry but my 2 bobs worth I think your mad restoring it.

Originally Posted by Tonto

Iam going against the grain but why strip it down? In your first comment...."I like the dings etc" so why not leave it in situ, sand it down so a good varish/sealer can be applied and leave the dings etc. Sorry but my 2 bobs worth I think your mad restoring it.

Hi Tonto, yes im wrestling with this myself, (actually i was as mouldings have come off now!). I thought that the mouldings were in poor shape in being physically attached to the door and hence thought to take them off, remove the bog and relay flat to the door. I will leave the imperfections of which there are many! I will also pull apart and refit the door frame pieces with lots of glue. Not sure ive made the right choice, but hey ive started it now